Reviews

On July 1, 2017 Metacritic announced that I Called Him Morgan was the best reviewed movie of first half of 2017. Here below are quotes from and links to some of the reviews the film has received since its world premiere at Venice Film Festival on September 1, 2016 and the following screenings at Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, New York Film Festival, London Film Festival and the theatrical release in US, Canada and UK during spring 2017.

“SUAVE AND POIGNANT… A DELICATE HUMAN DRAMA ABOUT LOVE, AMBITION AND THE GLORIES OF MUSIC… AS SIMPLE AND MYSTERIOUS AS A MURDER BALLAD… IT EXPANDS THE SCOPE OF LIFE AND DISTILLS ITS BEAUTY AND ITS PAIN.”A.O. Scott, NY Times

“A VISUAL AND TEXTURAL TRIUMPH… IN COMPLETE SYMPATHY WITH THE MOST WISTFUL CUTS OF ITS SUBJECT’S DISCOGRAPHY”Guy Lodge, Variety

“IT’S BOTH A PORTRAIT OF PEOPLE AND A HISTORICAL LANDSCAPE, A VIRTUAL VISION OF AMERICAN TIMES—THE LIVES OF BLACK AMERICANS IN THE AGE OF JIM CROW AND DE-FACTO DISCRIMINATION IN THE NORTH—AND OF THE ARTISTRY AND PERSONAL STYLE THAT AROSE IN RESPONSE TO THEM.”Richard Brody, New Yorker

“MUSICIANS SOMETIMES PARAPHRASE DEBUSSY, OR ONE ANOTHER, IN SAYING THAT MUSIC IS THE SILENCE BETWEEN THE NOTES. “I CALLED HIM MORGAN” HAS IT ALL—THE NOTES AND THE SILENCE, PLUS THE MUSIC OF SPOKEN LANGUAGE, PITCHED IN RUEFUL TONES OF RECOLLECTION.”Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal

“ONE OF THE GREAT FILMS ABOUT JAZZ… KASPER COLLIN’S EXQUISITELY HAUNTED MEDITATION I CALLED HIM MORGAN… COLLIN AND COMPANY ARE AFTER CLIMATE, NOT WEATHER. THEY STEEP US IN OUR AWARENESS THAT MORGAN AND HIS NEW YORK HAVE BEEN LOST, THAT OUR GLIMPSES OF IT MUST EITHER BE THROUGH MEMORY OR HAZED-UP PHOTOGRAPHY — OR THE MUSIC ITSELF.”Alan Scherstuhl, Village Voice

“AN EXCEPTIONAL FILM… ARTISTIC, OBSESSIVE AND INTOXICATING, “I CALLED HIM MORGAN” IS A DOCUMENTARY WITH A CREATIVE SOUL, AND THAT MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE… USING A DAZZLING BLEND OF CINEMATIC TOOLS, AURAL AS WELL AS VISUAL, COLLIN RECREATES BOTH INDIVIDUAL LIVES AND AN ENTIRE WORLD. AS A SLICE OF RECOVERED AND ILLUMINATED TIME, “I CALLED HIM MORGAN” HAS FEW PEERS… REGARDLESS OF WHETHER YOU CARE DEEPLY ABOUT JAZZ, THE POETRY OF COLLIN’S FILMMAKING AND THE POIGNANCY OF THE COUPLE’S STORY WILL WIN YOU OVER.”Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times

“LAYERING EXPERIENCES AND IMPRESSIONS, MUSIC AND IMAGE, KASPER COLLIN’S REMARKABLE FILM IS LESS CONCERNED WITH HISTORY THAN WITH EFFECTS, INFLUENCES THAT STRETCH ACROSS TIME, IDEAS THAT SHAPE ART. … IN EXPOSING AND MAKING SENSE OF THE FRAGMENTS AND FAULT LINES OF MEMORIES, I CALLED HIM MORGAN TELLS THE STORIES OF HELEN AND MORGAN—HOW THEY MET, HOW THEY WORKED TOGETHER, HOW THEY APPEARED TO OTHERS. IT ALSO TELLS A STORY OF STORYTELLING, HOW DIFFERENT STRANDS COME TOGETHER AND FALL APART, HOW LISTENERS PARTICIPATE IN THAT PROCESS. IN THIS, THE FILM CONJURES VISUAL RHYTHMS RESEMBLING JAZZ, MONTAGES OF IMAGE AND SOUND PROVIDING NEW WAYS OF CONCEIVING THE MOVEMENTS OF TIME, OF CAUSE AND EFFECT, OF INTERPRETATION. AS IT ARTICULATES LOSS, THE MOVIE ALSO CONTEMPLATES UNDERSTANDING.”Cynthia Fuchs, PopMatters

“KASPER COLLIN’S ABSORBING, KALEIDOSCOPIC DOCUMENTARY… BY TURNS INVIGORATING, STARTLING, MOURNFUL, AND REVELATORY. IT DOES NOT BRING THE PAST INTO THE PRESENT; RATHER, IT TAKES YOU INTO A PERIOD THAT’S GONE AND SHOWS IT TO YOU WITH MORE RICHNESS THAN YOU’VE KNOWN.” Stuart Klawans, The Nation

“THE ELEGANT MELANCHOLY OF THE FILM’S VISUALS, IN COMPLETE SYMPATHY WITH THE MOST WISTFUL CUTS OF ITS SUBJECT’S DISCOGRAPHY… BURNISHES BOTH THE INFORMATION WE HAVE AND THE GAPS IN IT.”Guy Lodge, Variety